Over the course of Strickland’s four seasons, LIU has gone from abysmal (2022-23) to flat-out bad (2023-24) to postseason contenders (2024-25) to the program’s first tournament appearance since the university system consolidated its Brooklyn and Long Island athletics departments in 2019.

Simply reaching this point is the culmination of a four-year journey: LIU turned the embarrassment of Strickland’s debut and the pain of last season’s tournament near-miss into perhaps the most impressive rebuilding project in this year’s field.

“Last year, it burnt,” said senior guard Jamal Fuller. “It carried over to this year. We all made sure that this year, it wouldn’t happen. We all did what we were supposed to do. From Day 1, we came in here as a group and no one tried to belittle anybody.”

The seed of this unexpected NCAA appearance was planted in the days after last year’s exit from the conference tournament.

The 2024-25 season was a breakthrough, sure, but the Sharks were focused on what could have been. LIU finished 17-16 overall, posting the program’s first winning season since 2021-22, but lost 10 games by single digits, including three losses in overtime.

“We lost a lot of games that we should’ve won,” Fuller said. “But we learned from it.”

In the wake of the loss to Saint Francis, the Sharks gathered to outline the expectations for this season: to win the NEC regular-season championship, tournament championship and, yes, the national championship.

“That’s what it’s about. We started this as a unit,” said Strickland. “This call to become regular-season, conference and NCAA champions. It started with all of us in a room talking about it.”

By the summer, LIU had added in a seven-person recruiting class that joined key holdovers such as Fuller and fellow guard Malachi Davis, both of whom were selected to the preseason all-conference team.

“I have to give them a lot of credit for sticking with us, for believing in us,” Strickland said of the Sharks’ returning core.

Among the additions were guard Greg Gordon, who previously played at Alabama-Birmingham and Iona, and guard Jomo Goings, a 6-5 junior who earned all-conference accolades at Slippery Rock University.

Over the course of the summer months and preseason, the Sharks weathered early dissension as they blended the incoming class with the returning roster.  

“It was a lot of, like, arguments about who was going to be who, who’s going to lead or what,” said Gordon. “But eventually we just kind of chose the fact that we’ll prioritize winning over feelings. That’s kind of been our biggest thing.”

After going 6-7 in nonconference play, including road losses to future tournament teams in Illinois and Georgia, the Sharks won 11 of 12 to open NEC action and fulfilled their promise as the league’s unanimous preseason favorite.

“At the end of the day, that’s what this is all about,” said Strickland. “Giving them the best experience we’ve had and we’re having.”

It’s not uncommon to see former NBA players leading teams into the NCAA Tournament.

Strickland is one of six in this year’s field, joining Hofstra’s Speedy Claxton, Central Florida’s Johnny Dawkins, Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg, North Carolina’s Hubert Davis and Kentucky’s Mark Pope.

During his 17-year NBA career, Strickland developed a reputation as a mercurial talent who, when harnessed, could rival any of the league’s top point guards. That reputation lingered into the start of Strickland’s coaching career, which began as the director of basketball operations at Memphis before he served as an on-court assistant under former South Florida coach Orlando Antigua from 2014-17 and an off-court support staffer for John Calipari at Kentucky.

Despite his limited résumé, that Strickland accepted the job at LIU in 2022 represented a major gamble on both ends — the Sharks’ administration was rolling the dice on an unproven coach, while Strickland was betting he could avoid the type of pitfall that could come to define his coaching career.

“I had to bet on me,” he said. “And bet on that I could define the environment and try to make it work and make it happen. I was betting on me and the people I could bring around to help me elevate this place.”

He rarely references his NBA career, according to players. Gordon didn’t even know Strickland was “a big NBA guy” when he arrived on campus, he said; asked by a teammate if he knew of Strickland’s background, Gordon replied, “Not really.”

But a professional career that still clings to Strickland led to raised eyebrows when he accepted the LIU opening: Why would someone with his level of name recognition choose to make his debut as a head coach at a program miles removed from the sport’s upper crust?

Because of the challenge, said Strickland.

“It’s never about the job, like, itself,” he said. “For me, it was about growth. I feel like I’ve done so many things in basketball and this was just, like, another thing to conquer. I wanted to see if I could do it. I wanted to see if I could change the environment as a head coach. More than anything, I probably came here for more personal growth than anything.

“Like, I was given an opportunity. I would never walk in somewhere and think it’s beneath me. LIU was a great opportunity. And it was an opportunity to show that I could change the environment, I could help young people get better, I could help the staff.”

This year’s team is Strickland’s most talented “as a whole,” he said.

Looking ahead to the tournament, the Sharks have assets that typically play well in March: a productive and veteran backcourt, rim protection and solid perimeter defense.

Led by Fuller’s 16.4 points per game, the four primary ballhandlers — Fuller, Davis, Gordon and Goings — account for 75.4% of the Sharks’ scoring. All four average in double figures with at least 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Goings was the only one of this group not to earn all-conference accolades.

LIU also ranks 10th nationally and third among mid-major programs with 5.4 blocks per game. It also ranks first in the NEC and 70th in the country with 7.8 steals per game and first in the NEC and 73rd nationally in allowing opponents to make 31.9% from deep.

Arizona remains a daunting challenge. The Big 12 regular-season and conference champions have gone a combined 24-2 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition — LIU is 0-4 in such games — and enter the tournament on a nine-game winning streak punctuated by wins against Iowa State and Houston.

“Regardless, we’re going to go out there and do what we have to do,” Fuller said.

While two No. 16 seeds have defeated No. 1 seeds since the tournament expanded — most recently, fellow NEC member Fairleigh Dickinson beat Purdue in 2023 — the top-ranked Wildcats opened as nearly 30-point favorites, meaning an LIU shocker would qualify as the biggest upset in tournament history by point spread.

“Opportunity is opportunity,” said Strickland. “And you’ve got to start somewhere. Everybody’s path and how it happens is just different.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Rod Strickland led LIU from rock bottom to NCAA Tournament 2026